Doha | Qatar awoke Wednesday still digging through the rubble of an Israeli attack the previous day on Hamas' political leaders who had gathered in the capital of the energy-rich Middle East country to consider a US proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Qatar's local media hewed tightly to government statements issued after Tuesday's attack, which killed at least six people in a Doha neighbourhood that is home to foreign embassies and schools. Qatar is ruled by a hereditary emir and tightly restricts speech like other Gulf Arab nations.
The strike on the territory of a US ally drew widespread condemnation from several countries in the Mideast and beyond. It also marked a dramatic escalation in the region and risked upending talks aimed at ending the war and freeing hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement Tuesday that its top leaders survived the strike but that five lower-level members were killed, including the son of Khalil al-Hayya — Hamas' leader for Gaza and its top negotiator — as well as three bodyguards and the head of al-Hayya's office. Hamas, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that al-Hayya and other senior figures had survived.
Al Jazeera, the outspoken satellite news network funded by Qatar's government, described the attack in its headlines as a “brutal aggression.” The Israeli government has banned Al Jazeera from operating in Israel or the West Bank amid the Israel-Hamas war, though its journalists still broadcast from the Gaza Strip.
The state-run Qatar News Agency noted that the country's ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, held a series of calls with world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.
Sheikh Tamim condemned the attack and, according to a readout of the call, said that Qatar holds Israel "responsible for its repercussions, in light of the policy of aggression they adopt that threatens the region's stability and obstructs efforts to de-escalate and reach sustainable diplomatic solutions.” Qatar Airways, a major East-West airline that operates out of the country's massive Hamad International Airport, sought to assure passengers their flights were safe and would not be interrupted.
Qatar maintains a major arsenal of air defence systems, including both American-made Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or THAAD batteries.
However, it doesn't immediately appear that Qatari air defences engaged during the attack.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, said Tuesday night that “the Israeli enemy used weapons that were not detected by radar.” He did not elaborate, but the statement suggests Israeli fighter jets could have launched so-called “stand-off” missiles at a distance to strike the site without actually entering Qatari airspace -- possibly over the Persian Gulf.
The United States has said it warned Qatar before the strike. Qatar disputes that, with Sheikh Mohammed saying that “the Americans sent a message 10 minutes after the attacks took place, saying they were informed that there was going to be a missile attack on the state of Qatar.” Qatar is also home to the US military's forward headquarters for its Mideast-based Central Command. The headquarters, located at the sprawling Al-Udeid Air Base, also has American-run radars and defence systems and recently hosted Trump on his tour of the region in May.